Nicest and rudest NHLers you've met

[robocop]

nicest:
theo fleury - he skated with us when we were kids in practice and talked to us before our games sometimes (his kid was on my team for a few years)
lanny mcdonald - played against him a few times and he gave me pointers (his kid went to my high school)
iggy - saw him in chinook centre and I said hey you're awsome iggy. He said thanks, want an autograph or a picture? I had no paper or camera unfortunately.

rudest
bourque - saw him in a grocery store a few months ago, I said hey borky and he looked at me like he was having a bad year of hockey then walked away. He was also a lot bigger than I thought he would be

[habernac]

Gretzky, Lafleur, Dryden, Muller, Messier, Fuhr, Anderson, Coffey, Odelein, Brashear, Petrov, Keane, Lebeau, Peplinski, Risebrough (bought me a beer even!) were all great people. Steve Shutt I don't think was having his best day, he was standoffish and rude. Rocket Richard was the best of all of them. Big smile, loved signing autographs for the kids. 30+ years later I still have that autograph.

[mannypac]

Originally Posted by robocop

rudest
bourque - saw him in a grocery store a few months ago, I said hey borky and he looked at me like he was having a bad year of hockey then walked away. He was also a lot bigger than I thought he would be

ever think you might have just called a random metis look alike "borky" while he was grocery shopping?

[timbit]

Originally Posted by mannypac

ever think you might have just called a random metis look alike "borky" while he was grocery shopping?

Please grow up.

[Dion]

About 10 years ago me and a good friend got to share a few pitchers of beer with Bobby Hull.

The rudest has to be Mike Vernon.

Then there's Theo Fleury who refused to acknowlage my hello when he signed a few books for me at Costco. He had the expression on his face that he hated book signings and didn't want to be there.

[Mad Mel]

In around 2001 or so I had been posting on a message board for a couple of years with this guy who was really knowledgeable about hockey. I had just moved to Calgary, and was a younger guy with not much cash. So he emails me and offers to send me a couple of tickets to a Canucks/Flames game (which he later did). And then tells me he was borrowing his friend's email, when I asked if he was that Butch Deadmarsh. Haha, you're a good guy, Butch.

[Frenzy1]

A random name, but I met Dave Scatchard in the Bahamas at a poker tournament my friend was playing in and they ended up seated at the same table. Really nice guy, forearms the size of my neck. He introduced us to his wife and seemed in awe at seeing professional poker players there like Daniel Negreanu. Then came the bad beat stories from a millionaire hockey player, yeah...

[Adayinthe]

Used to run into Phaneuf and Moss at a restaurant the guys would frequent. They kept to themselves but were always pleasant to little dudes asking for autographs.

I've found if you treat players like the normal people they are, they are much more receptive to conversation and such.

As much as these guys are celebrities they should be given some sortof privacy and respect as well. I'm sure it is a fine line for both fan and player.

[bluck]

Met Fleury and Bourque at my work once as some of u may remember... quite a few requested "proof" due to me saying I saw Bourque limping around in a cast Both were awesome guys and chatted with me for a couple minutes

[savard91]

i know a few in the nhl... played on a team with jordan eberle... super nice guy... also know taylor hall... very nice as well.. T.J Galiardi as well.. very humble kid...i know denis gauthier as well.. still keep in touch with him... but i think the rudest ive ever met... had to be surprisingly Mike Vernon... wouldnt even sign something for me when my kid brother was playing against his sons team..

[TriCitiesHockeyFan]

only met burrows, and he was very nice

[jeremywilhelm]

I've been around the Oiler kids a couple times at the bars around Edmonton. Hall and Eberle are little #######s when they get drunk.

Hemsky used to party alot too haven't seen him in a while. Horcoff is a real dick to women.

[Hockey]

Ive met alot of pro hockey players and have had the opportunity to go out and have some beers with some, but 2 guys that will stick out for me when I was only 15 are Adam Graves and Keith Primeau. This was during the 1996 world cup training camp in whistler and I was getting autographs and one time my pen was dying and Primeau just told me my pen was dead get a better pen next time. I didn't want to leave so i kept trying and along comes Adam Graves, he notices my pen was dying too. So he tells me to hold on and we will find somebody with a pen. We walked around together looking for a pen to borrow, he sees a guy and asks him if he can borrow a pen and then he signs whatever it was i got him to sign.

So after that Adam Graves was always one of my favorite players. Later that same day I got to ride in the same mini-van as Rod Brind'Amour and Rob Blake.

[Wise Gamble]

Met Daniel Sedin he was really chill

Trevor Linden was very easy to talk with and he signed my jersey which was cool

Got to talk with Gordie Howe at a Vancouver Giants game...just basically talked about life and was interesting that we actually started talking about politics...seems like he really follows it.

Brent Seabrook literally lives right down the street from me in the off-season and he's the biggest dick and pos ever. Drives his big ass truck, never says hi to anyone and when he had the Cup back in our town...it was like he didn't even want to be around here.

Other hockey players who lived around here or went to the same high school...Milan Lucic who's a really down to earth guy, Brandon mcmillan of the ducks is kinda quiet, jon blum is the greatest super smash bros player ever and of course

Evander Kane...I remember being in grade 9 I believe and he was in grade 12 and all the rumours going around he hooked up with one of his teammates sisters and they scrapped it out in the locker room. Everyone I know says Kane is a loser and jerk. Oh well.

[henriksedin33]

nicest I've met: Trevor Linden - class act all the way

[NBC]

I met Regehr backstage at a concert in Calgary in 2004. He was nice and engaging. Luke Richardson was there as well. He seemed friendly enough.

Cale Hulse is a nice guy as well. It helps that he is friends with my brother.

Rod Brind'Amour is a class act too.

My dad met Howie Meeker years ago at an old-timers tournament in Vancouver or Victoria - can't remember which. He said he was a complete jerk.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

I've been around the Oiler kids a couple times at the bars around Edmonton. Hall and Eberle are little #######s when they get drunk.

Hemsky used to party alot too haven't seen him in a while. Horcoff is a real dick to women.

Haven't heard anything about Eberle, but I can confirm Hall is a complete mess when he hits the bars.

[burn_this_city]

mannypac
Lifetime Suspension

Join Date: Nov 2010
Exp:

Good.

[killer_carlson]

Fleury was really nice at a golf tournament.
kevin Lowe was also really nice at a golf tournament, even though I said I was a Flames fan.
Randy Bucyk - former flames prospect - was at the same tournament. Impressed I knew he was a flames prospect
Went to law school with a former NHLer (he was a year ahead). Awesome, awesome guy.

On the other end of the spectrum....

Rico Fata was at the Drink hitting on everything that moved the day before a Herald article ran about what a great kid he was and how he stayed with his girlfriend from junior.

Dominic Pittis, and his entourage line jumped at a bar in Edmonton (the Billiard Club) when I was at uni there. Pittis is a short little twerp, his friends are idiots - long story, altercation, I yelled that Pittis "better enjoy it now because he's out of the NHL next year" (which came true by the way) and his friends got mad but everyone else in line laughed.

[FlamesAddiction]

Rudest was Doug Gilmour. Nicest was John Erskine.


Brett Hull and Bobby Orr were both really friendy when I met them too.